Nasa has released details of its strategy for sending a human crew to Mars within the next few decades.The US space agency envisages dispatching a "minimal" crew on a 30-month round trip to the Red Planet in a 400,000kg (880,000lb) spacecraft.Details of the concept were outlined at a meeting in Houston, Texas.In January 2004, President George W Bush launched a program for returning humans to the Moon by 2020 and - at an undetermined date - to Mars.The "Mars ship" would be assembled in low-Earth orbit using three to four Ares V rockets - the new heavy-lift launch vehicle that Nasa has been developing.Notionally dispatched in February 2031, the mission's journey from Earth to Mars would take six to seven months in a spacecraft powered by an advanced cryogenic fuel propulsion system.Estimates of the cost of mounting a manned Mars mission vary enormously, from $20bn to $450bn.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7116834.stm
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